Software: Its Dark Side and Search
September 10, 2013
I read “The Dark Side of Software Development That No One Talks About.” Well, excuuuuse me — as Steve Martin the comedian once said — my goslings and I have yammered about “bad” developers and the rise of the nerd kings for years.
A couple of the goslings are/were nerd kings until they discovered one or more of these areas of interests: People of the opposite sex or just interspecies interaction in general, money, power, clients who cannot log in to an email account, automobile racing, weapons. I think I have covered some of the interests. If I omitted some triggers, excuuuuse me.
Well, snacks are available at many high-tech firms. How about an Odwalla and some trail mix? A happy quack to Family Wings for the image: http://familywings.org/from-star-wars-to-heart-wars/come-to-the-dark-side-cookies/
The write up points out, “Software developers are jerks.” The write up explains the jerkiness reasonably well. Among the characteristics mentioned are:
Not everyone has your best interests at heart
Vileness (great word, by the way)
Bloated egos (I thought every CEO needed a jet plain and a trophy nerd)
The “cure”, quite surprisingly, is almost Jungian:
there needs to be more of us—especially those of us who’ve been in the field for awhile—who tell people why they can do it and how easy it really is.
My view is less psychy.
First, since most folks can click a mouse, this expertise immediately converts to technical expertise. Consequently the likelihood that a development project will move forward as if on Teflon is zero. Everyone has an informed opinion, and the folks with “power” dictate what happens. Just look at interfaces which are unusable or odd ball iPad apps which are almost unusable without mindless tapping for evidence.
Second, the split between those who can code and those who cannot is another type of one percent societal split. Talking about a method is different from implementing the method in software. Since it is more fun to talk than work, the process of creating an innovation effectively stops. Does the world need another wearable device like a smart watch? I suppose so, but what are the fancy watchmakers doing? Those throwbacks keep making watches some of which cost more than an Autonomy, Endeca, or SharePoint Search implementation. Nissan is doing a smart watch. Great idea.
Third, the need for software solutions is rising rapidly. I just heard a podcast which argued that Microsoft needs to focus only on apps. That’s a great idea. My wife has an iPhone and I can’t figure out which colorful icon does what. We need more apps. I think that top developers can meet this need whether I understand the solution or not.
Stepping back, let me ask a question. Does any of the enterprise software work without legions of technical experts applying bandages 24×7? Of the hundreds of thousands of apps, how many are in for the long haul? Of the thousands of open source programs, how many will survive the loss of a couple of key committers?
Software and the type of experts described in the article have helped make modern life brittle. With expertise concentrated and the constructs on the edge of functionality, will the software infrastructure support an increasingly complex future?
And what about search? Findability is not making much progress. I am not sure the developers are to blame. Computational boundaries, the complexity of language, and the “needs” of the busy worker contribute to systems which are increasingly alike. The enterprise search systems are equally useful and equally disappointing. Good business for consultants and technical wellness staff comes from the present situation.
Stephen E Arnold, September 10, 2013
Avoid Being Red Queened: How to Run Ahead of Social Media Competition
September 10, 2013
The article Using Social Analytics and BI to be a Smarter Social Business on Don’t Mind Rick builds an elaborate metaphor between Social Analytics and Alice in Wonderland. The Red Queen Effect, as the article discusses, refers to those companies that are simply running to keep in the same place. The article encourages companies to avoid this.
“If you are using Social Media data just for history based predictions you are doing yourself a disservice. You now can know what your customer is thinking since they share their thoughts on social media. What your customer is doing, since they share their activities on social media. And you can know what your customer wants, since he is also sharing this on social media”
Of course, this dredges up the inevitable fear of being creepy. For example, Target sending out catalogues to a pregnant woman based on purchase patterns before the woman even told her family. The article also brings up the buzzword web care, or companies responding mainly to negative feedback on social media. Instead of this, the article suggests allowing trial runs of products, since what is a better test of whether you like something than trying it out yourself? At the least, the article is a remarkable collection of social media and business buzzwords.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 10, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Leaning In and Communicating: Interns Learn from Sheryl Sanberg and Each Other
September 10, 2013
The article Lean In Moments: Anne Madoff at Palantir Technologies on Seeing I-To-I refers to Sheryl Sandberg’s recent publication Lean In, which encourages young women to take on more responsibility and trust their abilities in the workplace. A young female intern at Palantir Technologies felt dismayingly out of her element when she began there. This was not a new feeling, or a unique one. There is an ongoing self-doubt in spite of her achievements and success. The article explains,
“One day at lunch, my insecurities finally subsided. I was sitting with some interns I didn’t know very well, and one of the girls I’d just met said, “Ugh! My Palan-fear was out of control when I got here. I’m so glad it’s eased up.” I looked at her confusedly, and asked what “Palan-fear” meant. “You know, the fear that everyone here is way smarter than you are,” she replied. I felt just like I did at 16 when I read about Sheryl Sandberg’s anxieties: “wow, it’s not just me.”
Simply knowing that this was a wide-spread fear, a disease in fact, seemed to alleviate its effects. Palantir’s interns discovered that everyone feels like the dumbest person in the room on occasion. This sort of marketing seems to channel Marshall McLuhan’s ‘medium as message’ campaign.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 10, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SAIL LABS Considered Best Kept Secret in Austrian Artificial Speech Intelligence
September 10, 2013
In the press release titled Sail Labs Technology Receives SME Award “Hidden Champion”, on SAIL LABS’ website, the company was prized in the small to medium category for being a leader in the field of speech technology products. CEO Christoph Prinz accepted the prize, ironically enough touting his company’s marketing expertise as one of their qualifications. SAIL stands for Speech-Artificial-Intelligence Language, and the company is considered one of the best-kept secrets in the industry. The article explains,
“SAIL LABS has been awarded today with the “Hidden Champion” Prize (“KMU Nischenweltmeister”) as an appreciation for outstanding merits in the Austrian export economy. The prize serves to recognize… companies that fulfill the criteria of being world leaders in their sector and niches – flourishing unnoticed in the shadow of major international companies, but nevertheless instrumental in keeping Austria’s economic engine purring.”
SAIL LABS has made waves with government and commercial products such as Open Source Intelligences and the Media Mining Indexer. Strangely enough, the company was perfectly honored to receive the award confirming not only SAIL LABS good work but also their low profile. From a marketing point of view, that is an interesting approach to business, but perhaps the award touting this ‘hidden champion’ will move them out of the dark and into the limelight.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 10, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Search: Finding Flounders Floundering
September 9, 2013
A founder is a flat fish. In today’s whiz kid world, “flounder” does not make one drool for a fish stew. “Flounder” means to the Free Dictionary, “to move or act clumsily and in confusion.” I made the connection to search as a result of a seemingly innocuous discussion on LinkedIn about improving search.
A flounder not yet out of water.
I am not sure about the rules for linking to LinkedIn content. I have to watch my Ps and Qs because two of the goslings and I learned on Friday, September 6, 2013, that some of the queries I launched from my research computer were not processed by Slideshare. Was this a glitch or some intentional action? I don’t know. To be on the safe side, I will not link to the thread called “How to manage queries having no relevant answers but still matching some terms.” If you are a LinkedIn customer, you can log in and locate the discussion using the LinkedIn “finding” system. How well with that work out for you? Well, that’s another search topic.
To recap the thread, a LinkedIn customer is responsible for an Intranet search system. When its users run a query, the system produces a results list which do not answer some users’ questions. There is term matching, but the content is not on point. I no longer like to beat the drum for precision and recall. We are now in the era of good enough search. Few take the time to create a vetted content inventory. When the search system is rolled out, no one really knows what’s “in” the index. The point that a query contains terms which match some content but makes users grouse is not new.
Caught by an unhappy user who happens to be the CFO figuring out why so much money was spent for a search system that did not work.
The fix, of course, is like trying to refuel an old fashioned propeller driven aircraft with a somewhat more modern jet powered tanker. The job is going to be tricky and may end with some excitement. Jets and prop driven aircraft like enterprise search and quick mixes might not be a happy combination like peanut butter and jelly.
In 2004, then Googler Dave Girouard said in eCommerce Times:
“The funny part is it’s easier to find box scores from the 1957 World Series than it is to find last quarter’s sales presentation in the enterprise. While Web search has gotten really good, enterprise search has stagnated, and that’s why we really believe it’s a problem that needs to be solved and that Google has a unique set of capabilities to solve it.”
Well, Mr. Girouard has moved on and Google is advertising on LinkedIn for yet another wizard to work on enterprise search. If Google cannot knock the ball out of the park, who can? Is HP Autonomy the go-to system? What about a low-cost option like dtSearch? Why not download Elasticsearch, Constellio, of one of the other open source solutions? Maybe a company should embrace a predictive solution from Agilex or Palantir?
Research before You Start a SharePoint Architecture
September 9, 2013
When the preprogrammed “help” function on Microsoft’s software does not work, the next place users turn to is Microsoft’s Technet. Technet is Microsoft’s official help Web site that has more useful information and gets into the nuts and bolts of the software. It takes a bit of computer savvy to understand some of the information on Technet, but it was written in mind for the beginner. We have been thinking about SharePoint search a lot lately, but one cannot search SharePoint without a system setup, right? We felt it was best to inform our readers on how to get started on working on a SharePoint architecture, so we found “Plan Enterprise Search Architecture In SharePoint Server 2013” on Technet.
Here is how you can use the article to your benefit:
“Before you set up your enterprise search architecture, there are quite a few things that require careful planning. Step by step, we’ll help you to plan a small, a medium, or a large-size enterprise search architecture. Are you familiar with the components of the search system in SharePoint 2013, and how they interact? By reading Overview of search in SharePoint Server 2013 and Search architectures for SharePoint Server 2013 before you get going, you’ll become familiar with search architecture, search components, search databases, and the search topology.”
Even if Microsoft causes headaches, having information directly from the software source is often the best place to start for planning projects. Who knows software better than the developer? The article may not have all the information you need, but thanks to the Internet there are other sources available. More SharePoint tips, tricks, and news are available at ArnoldIT.
Whitney Grace, September 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Once Again SharePoint Search Needs Augmentation
September 9, 2013
Collaborative content management programs are a solution to share information and connect users across multiple devices. An important function of the platform is search. SharePoint is a favorite out-of-the-box content software of many organizations, but like any Microsoft product it needs to be tweaked to make it perform at its best. Search is one of its functions that needs a lot of tweaking and Mentor Mate has a SharePoint Tips blog to help administrators improve search. One of its latest posts, “Pitfalls Configuring A SharePoint 2010 Search Service Application” tries to answer how to set up restricted access:
“In the following, first, blog we talk about restricted access for Search Service Application on a clean SharePoint farm even for a farm administrator account. So, we have a clean SharePoint 2010 install, we try to access the Search Service Application (under Application Management ? Manage Service Applications) and… we get an unexpected access denied. “
The author, Kiril Illiev, follows through with how he resolved the situation and the steps he took to get there. The post reads as an instructional article on how to fix SharePoint’s search application, complete with screenshots. SharePoint search can be enhanced with tips like this.
Whitney Grace, September 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
An Ego Boost For Expert System
September 9, 2013
With the variety of technological products on the market it can be difficult to select the proper fit for your organization. Mimesi found the perfect choice in Expert Systems. Mimesi is a division of Reed Business Information that works for press, web, and social monitoring and it will use Expert System’s semantic technology to deliver a more robust information delivery platform, says the Expert SystemWeb site in the press release, “Mimesi Semantics Improves News And Web Information Services.”
Organizations use Mimesi’s services to monitor and receive personalized information in an accurate and timely manner. Mimesi’s old semantic technology was falling short of the expectations needed to maintain competiveness, so they turned to something newer and more capable to handle the information load. Mimesi uses Expert Systems’s Cogito to filter relevant news for its clients with precise results.
“ ‘With the support of Expert System technology, we have increased the effectiveness and the efficiency of the process of organizing news, while relieving operators from repetitive tasks,’ said Arrigo Rocchi, Operations Manager, Mimesi. ‘Our adoption of semantic technology has therefore benefitted both the customer and our internal operations.’”
Semantic technology takes out the guess work of a basic Internet search and returns relevant results. Think of it as a giant Google Reader or Google news alert. It does beg the question if semantic technology will head to open source thus all companies based on it will lose relevancy or if they will become more important as the Internet gets even bigger.
Whitney Grace, September 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
IBM Has Security Flaws
September 8, 2013
IBM is a respected technology company and it appears that hardly anything can bad can be said about them. There comes a time when every company must admit they have a fault in their product and IBM must step up to the plate this time. The news comes to us from Secunia, a Web site that monitors technology security, in the warning, “Security Advisory SA54460-IBM Content Analytics With Enterprise Search Multiple Vulnerabilities.” The warning is labeled as moderately critical and should worry organizations that use the software to manage their data. The bug messes with cross site scripting, manipulates data, exposes sensitive information, and a DoS.
Here is the official description:
“IBM has acknowledged a weakness and multiple vulnerabilities in IBM Content Analytics with Enterprise Search, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose certain sensitive information, conduct cross-site scripting attacks, manipulate certain data, and cause a DoS (Denial of Service).”
Ouch! IBM must not be happy about this, but at least they discovered the problem and Content Analytics users can expect a patch at some point. Hate to bring up Microsoft at this venture, but whenever a big company has a problem I can’t help but think about how Microsoft never has a product launch without some issues. IBM is reliable and hopefully they will not go down the same path as Windows 8.
Whitney Grace, September 08, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Fodder for the Culture Wars
September 8, 2013
Perhaps, like me, you’ve seen something about the study which found that drivers of really nice cars are less likely to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks than those driving hoop ties. Now, you can get details on this and seven other studies in, “Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior” (PDF) from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Perhaps this explains some of the marketing methods in use by certain search, analytics, and content processing vendors?
The paper was created by a team from UC Berkeley’s psychology department and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and edited by the University of Michigan’s Richard E. Nisbett . The foreword abstract summarizes:
“Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 8) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”
Wow, that is quite the indictment. The paper describes each study, then launches into an extended discussion on the results. It does include caveats, like the acknowledgement that some rich folks are actually quite generous and that some poor people are jerks (I am paraphrasing.) It also calls for further research on the subject. Will more studies confirm what many understand on a gut level? More importantly, is there anything we can do to encourage the rich-and-powerful to pay less attention to their bank accounts and more to their consciences?
Cynthia Murrell, September 08, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
